Future You Zine

Strange, funny and sad tales by Nada Alic that are at once personal and universal

With short stories by Nada Alic, artwork by Andrea Nakhla and photos from Angela Lewis all wrapped up in a package designed by Nik Ewing (of the band Local Natives), the new zine "Future You" is a thoughtful and perfectly oddball publication that will entertain anybody who has ever felt alone or—at the very least—a little awkward.

Toronto-based Alic (who has contributed to VICE, NBC and Boooooom, and now works at Etsy) had never written short story before embarking on the 44-page, perfect-bound publication, "I was a music journalist for a few years and ran a music blog for a long time so there was a safety in curating—it's being one-step removed from any criticism for being creative, but with all the joy of making something. It's much easier to say, 'Check out this band I found,' rather than, 'Listen to this introspective song I wrote in my bedroom.' I have infinite respect for any artist that has the courage to show themselves to the world. I think I just got to a point where I abandoned that insecurity of what people might think of me."

There is nothing more boring than a woman who cannot see beyond the space in front of her face. My aim as a human being is to disrupt that in any way possible.

From describing uncomfortable sexual acts during adolescence to feeling lonely while surrounded by people, having strange interactions at the gym to getting peed on, her descriptive (but never flowery) prose depicts the terror and humor involved in being female. "My favorite conversations with friends are almost exclusively about death and the afterlife, consciousness and ego, strange looking penises or latent lesbianism shared by all women... This is what I'm most interested in. Any sort of talk about diets or gossip or general meanness towards our bodies bores me to death. There is nothing more boring than a woman who cannot see beyond the space in front of her face. My aim as a human being is to disrupt that in any way possible," Alic says.

It's this delicate balance of banality, hilarity and horror that Alic manages to perfect; especially in "Dance Into It" in which she tells the courage, joy, wonder and torture that all occur while simply dancing with a man at a party. "None of it is all that extraordinary and I think if you just paid more attention to the things that are happening all around you at all times, you'll notice the strangeness and humor in everything," she says. At once deeply personal and altogether universal, "Future You" is engaging and entirely charming. Luckily, there will be another issue—because Alic is never short of story inspiration.

Limited to 200 copies, "Future You" volume one is available for purchase online for $10.